"Children's Moment" during the 11/26/23 church service at Centenary United Methodist Church. Overcoming Fear with Faith - The Fear of the Alphabet.
The CUMC youth demonstrates how faith can help those overcome their fears of the letters L, G, B, T, Q, I, A, +
Some feel that the letters L G B T Q I A are immoral, contrary to the teachings in the Bible and are sins, but the youth's understanding of Christianity, these beliefs are extreme and irrational because Jesus had one commandment for all of us and that commandment is to love one another unconditionally.
1John 4:18 says “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
Today we re going to talk about those who have an Alphabet Phobia and how faith can help to overcome this fear. It is possible that there are some out in the congregation who have this phobia, so please listen carefully.
How do you feel about the letters L, G, B, T, Q, I, A and + ? For the children out there, the letters I spoke of identifies ordinary people like you and me. The “L” stands for lesbian. If you have a friend who has two Moms instead of a Mom and Dad, then your friend has lesbian parents.
The “G” stands for gay. If you have a friend who has two Dads instead of a Mom and Dad, then your friend has Gay parents. The important thing to remember is that lesbian and gay parents are no different then your own parents and they love their children just like your Mom and Dad loves you.
The “B” stands for bisexual. This is when an adult is attracted to both women and men. A bisexual person could marry a man or a woman because they see both as the same.
The “T” stands for transgender. This is when a person is born a man, but inside feels like woman or a woman who inside feels like a man. The important thing to remember is that we are all different so just because someone is different than yourself it does not mean that who they are is wrong or bad.
The “Q” stands for queer. The word “queer” means strange or odd, but it generally means different than others. So if a person does not identify as L-G-B-T then they usually identify as being queer.
The “I” stands for intersex. This is when a person is born with a mixture of female and male body parts. More than 1,200 years ago these people were given the name hermaphrodites but intersex is the more acceptable term used now. The important thing to remember is that we are all children of God and God does not treat us differently because we are different.
The “A” stands for asexual. An asexual person is one who loves, but does not show the love in a physical way like with hugs or kisses. It’s like visiting Santa Claus at the mall. Santa may not shower you with hugs and kisses, but you know he loves you.
The “+” stands for plus. The “plus” means “and more” because as time goes on we know there will be more letters in the alphabet to follow. There’s 19 more to be exact and we know that God approves of using every letter of the alphabet because after all a plus sign is a cross.
People may not agree with the L G B T Q I A ways of life, but like with other fears the more you open your mind to the idea that nothing bad is going to happen to you, the fear goes away. Remove your fears with love as Jesus commands us to do and you shall have eternal life because the absence of fear is eternal life.
Have no fear just as Jesus has taught us that there is no fear in love. Love the letters of the alphabet and you will no longer live in fear of those things that make you feel uncomfortable or do not understand.
So ends our Children’s Moment. In God’s precious name, Amen.